The darkest places in
hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in time of moral
crisis. Dante Alighieri.
The decisions of our
past are architects of our future.
The ends justify the means. Machiavelli
Inferno is the
underworld as described in Dante Alighieri’s epic poem The Divine Comedy, which
depicts hell as an elaborately structured realm populated by entities known as
‘shades’ – bodiless souls trapped between life and death.
This book was
published in Great Britain in 2013 with 618 pages. Dan Brown, a well-known
bestselling author for The Da Vinci Code novel. He is an American author
of thriller fiction who was inspired by Dante’s works. Inferno is a thriller
novel which is rich of facts, literature, science, and historical references. Seemingly Mr. Brown expressed his protest to WHO, as the gate keeper of the planet’s
health – is investing in things like curing diabetes, filling blood banks, and
battling cancer.
Prof. Langdon, as the
main character, pointed that as the hypocrite while the chart of World
Population Growth Troughout History showed the dangerous statistic. It’s only
take a thousand year human had been increasing into 9 billions (at the chart on
page 145). This planet should just provide for 4 billions. If the population is
cut into a half so the problems of this world will banish a half too.
Inferno (2013), a Novel by
Dan Brown: Summary
Prologue. He introduced his name as the Shade. The shadows of the Uffizi (Italian Gallery)
had pursued him … has sent him underground … forced him to live in purgatory.
He had succeed reveal to aboveground but the voices echoed from below … warned
him… ungrateful land!
As he climbed the
visions came hard … the lustful bodies writhing in fiery rain, the gluttonous
souls floating in excrement. He had climbed halfway to heaven, they rushed
forward in disbelief, wanted to grab his feet. High above this burdened world,
he made his prayer. Dearest God, I pray the world remembers my name not as a
monstrous sinner, but as the glorious savior you know I truly am. I pray the
Mankind will understand the gift I leave behind. My gift is future, my gift is
salvation, and my gift is inferno. Amen.
It was a whispered of
a woman’s voice in his head when he woke up. Robert Langdon was founded with
brain injure, a mild amnesia, in Florence, Italy. He had no identification when he arrived in
ICU. Harvard symbologist, Professor Robert Langdon, forced his aching mind to
reel back – walking alone across the Harvard campus to Saturday – night lecture
series. A woman aimed directly a handgun to Dr. Marconi’s chest, his white lab
coat drenched in blood.
Langdon kept
hallucinating, the silver – haired woman and the iconic mask. Dr. Brooks only
assured him that recurring visions were common with amnesia. Sienna brought him
to her apartment and he studied that young doctor. Dr. Sienna Brook, an Italian
surgery was in her early thirties. A newspaper article with a photo of Sienna
at age seven proclaimed that girl as prodigy. Far coast of Italy in a luxury
vessel, there was a man with his employee. Known to his employees only as ‘the
provost’ he had built his reputation – and The Consortium itself – on two
golden rules. Never make a promise you can’t keep and never lie to a client,
ever.
Vayentha reported him
that Langdon had escaped. She had been the best person for that mission but had
made mistake last night. Not far from him, in his ten years with the
Consortium, Knowlton had performed all kind of stranger that knew feel
somewhere between dishonest and illegal. Laurence Knowlton found an image
slowly appeared in his computer and bore inscription: in this place, on this
date, the world was changed forever. It was kind of a threat. Working in moral
gray area was commonplace at Consortium – an organization whose lone ethical
high ground what was they would do whatever to it took a promise to client.
Besides, seeing a
woman in gray hair in his vision, Langdon also had seen iconic mask, it’s
called a plague mask (picture on page 60). The deadly plague swept Europe in
1300s, killing off a third population in some regions. Long-beaked mask was
nearly synonymous as the Black Death. Back to hospital, Landon and Sienna found
his jacket. The hand embroidered initials – R.L. that had been added to the
label. Hidden in lining, were large neatly fashioned pocket and a biometrically
sealed canister. All suspicious stuffs were strange to him. After shaking the
tube, he found the Faraday pointer potrayed the masterpiece before him – La
Mappa dell’ Inferno – that had been painted by one of true giants of Italian
Renaissance, Sandro Botticelli. He had studied Botticelli’s map of hell and he
thought was linked to Dante’ Inferno.
He called American
Consulate and told his story. Langdon was so shock because consul general’s
chief administrator was familiar to him and even asked him about his
possession. As the minutes ticked past the military man and a woman who killed
Dr. Marconi seized him. Langdon and Sienna had been chased by two different
teams. Vayentha from the Consortium and Italian military police team, with all
dressed in black uniform. He assumed U.S government had sent military to catch
him. An attractive older woman was wedged between two soldiers like a captive
in military’s van. He thought he had seen a ghost, a woman in his vision.
The silver – haired
woman in the van was having trouble breathing. Suffering from severe asthma by
six, she had been treated with a high dose of a promising new drug. Sadly the
drug’s unanticipated side effects damaged her reproductive system in permanent.
She had flown to New York from Geneva, where she was serving as the director of
the World Health Organization. Elisabeth Sinskey had invited by a man and they
had argued about the population. A scientist, philanthropist, brought her the
data of world population growth throughout history.
Dr. Zobrist, Dante’s
fanatic explained scientist’s conclusions. According to any environmental
biologist or statistician tell us that humankind’s best chance of long-term
survival occurs with a global population of around four billion. In fact, we
are seven now. Some of us will witness the population triple in our lifetime.
The demand for dwindling natural resources is skyrocketing. Clean water is
harder and harder to come by. And in face of this disaster the World Health
Organization – the gate keeper of the planet’s health – is investing in things
like curing diabetes, filling blood banks, battling cancer.
Knowlton studied the
video of his client and he found two clue words; Malthus and Dante. A quick
Internet search led him information a bout mathematician and demographist
Thomas Robert Malthus who had famously predicted an eventual global collapse
due to overpopulation. Professor Langdon tried to find out who was the attacker
wanted to kill him.
The vision and the
tube led him to Dante’s house in Florence. As an arts and culture administrator
at Palazzo Vecchio, Marta Alvarez had climbed stairs countless times although
she was eight months pregnant. Marta said Ignazio Busoni and Langdon were there
last night. Langdon didn’t remember anything until he saw on surveillance
camera. Ignazio Busoni was something of a celebrity in the Florence cultural
world. The longtime director of Museo dell’Opera del Duomo. He also was an
expert in Dante’s works.
Dante Alighieri was
an Italian poet most famous for writing The Divine Comedy, which described
Dante’s imagine journey through hell after he read Bible. In his poem, Dante
eventually escaped hell, continued journey through purgatory, and finally
arrived in paradise. The Divine Comedy is divided into three parts – Inferno,
Purgatory, and Paradise. The reason the mask resided in the gallery had nothing
to do with that poem. Dante lived in Florence and he loved the city, but there
was a shift in political power, Dante supported the wrong side, so he was
exiled – thrown outside the city walls and told him never come back. After his
death, an artist made a mask as an appreciation to Dante in Florence.
Martha explained the
mask was owned by the Swiss billionaire Betrand Zobrist. He was famous
biochemist. He basically invented the field of germline manipulation. He also
was a prominent of the Population Apocalypse Equation. Sienna knew so much
about Zobrist because she was well red in the field of medicine. But Martha
found the mask was stolen by Professor Langdon and Ignazio. Italian military
police and Vayentha found them in Gallery. Ignazio Busoni was killed. Langdon
got caught by WHO man who admitted picked him up from Harvard University. But
he sensed something vague familiar in his eyes. As if he had met Dr. Jonathan
Ferris somewhere. Langdon asked his friend’s help in New York. He was taking
private jet to Geneva because he guessed Dr. Zobrist stored the plague in cold
area, Geneva.
Elisabeth Sinskey and
her team had tracked Langdon and they found him in Geneva. Langdon was caught.
Elisabeth explained she hired Langdon to crack Zobrist’s the inscriptions that
was related to Botticelli’s painting. Dr.
Zobrist had left it before he was suicide. Elisabeth thought Langdon betrayed
his agreement to WHO. Zobrist had created a plague that could threat the
mankind and he hid it somewhere. She found that Zobrist left two clues for his
plague. It was the Bottecelli’s painting and Dante’s poem. Consortium was in
the same team with WHO now. Provost admitted Zobrist was his client.
He wanted to discover
his client true intentions and what he had been created and if the threat was
real. He also said Sienna was Zobrist’s former lover. Consortium and Sienna
wanted to accomplish Zobrist’s mission but he never knew about the plague, a
threat to human. Langdon was played by Sienna and provost’s team. Dr. Marconi‘s
death, Vayentha, U.S consulate and the hospital were only pretend. Marconi is
Dr. Ferris, one of the Consortium’s staff. Langdon was not losing of his memory
but Consortium had injected him with benzodiazepines – a breed of
pharmaceutical that deletes of short – term memory.
The last clue was the
tomb of Enrico Dandolo in Istanbul, Turkey. Langdon met Sienna there and she
admitted all to him. But she said that Zobrist didn’t create a plague but far
more dangerous. It was a sterility virus. The contagion has been out for week.
The virus was now in airborne and one third of the world’s population would be
sterile … and would continue to be sterile for all time.
Betrand Zobrist has
redesigned human species … in an attempt to save mankind … in transforming
humankind into less fruitless population. Sienna was tired of being a fugitive.
Langdon had explained Sienna’s confession about Zobrist’s work to Sinskey and
assured her. It was no easy for Elisabeth to trust Sienna but after arguing a
lot with her, she hired Sienna as a WHO scientist.
*****
May 8, 2015
Tana Toraja & Makassar, Southern Celebes
Sekapur Sirih
Tempat paling gelap
di neraka telah diperuntukkan bagi mereka bersikap netral dalam krisis moral.
Dante Alighieri. Keputusan masa lalu membangun masa depan.
Pertama mengetahui
nama penulis Dan Brown dari karyanya yang
terkenal the Da Vinci Code. Ketika itu banyak pihak yang
mempertentangkan karena menghadirkan tokoh Jesus dalam geliat fiksi. Namun
pemikir gereja dan pengikut Jesus berpandangan maju menganggap itu hanyalah
sebuah karya sastra. Di lain pihak banyak bersukacita bukan karena kehebatannya sebagai karya, namun
karena kontennya telah menyudutkan Jesus sebagai Tuhan akan tetapi di sisi
berbeda banyak peminat. Setelah menikmati
filmnya di layar lebar, betapa sebuah film menarik. Dari segi sastra
adalah karya yang bagus dimana ada twist cerita atau teka-teki di sana. Hingga
kini sama sekali belum pernah membaca novelnya tapi ada keyakinan kuat kalau
novel itu pastilah karya luar biasa.
Karya fiksi Inferno
yang saya miliki saat ini adalah cetakan pertama produksi Bantam Press
berbendera Britania Raya. Diinformasikan novel ini akan diangkat ke layar
sinema di tahun 2016 mendatang. Kembali diperankan oleh aktor besar Tom Hanks,
yang juga telah dua kali dipercaya melakonkan the Da Vinci Code dan Angels and
Demons.
Buku setebal 618
halaman ini, telah menemani perjalanan menikmati indahnya Tana Toraja dan kota
Makassar. Karya ini sangat layak melewati dan menyita perhatian hingga akhir Mei 2015. Disampaikan dengan
bahasa yang berkualitas, plot yang kuat, dengan genre thriller, sains, fakta
dan sejarah. Bagi pembaca umum atau mahasiswa yang berniat menikmati atau
mengkaji sebuah karya berkualitas maka novel ini sangat layak dipertimbangkan.
Sungguh sebuah bacaan yang sangat menarik.
Terjemahan dalam
Bahasa Indonesia, Inferno (Neraka) oleh
Dan Brown: ringkasan
Dr Robert Langdon,
seorang professor simbologi dari Universitas Harvard Amerika tergeletak tidak
sadar diri dan tidak tahu identitasnya di kota Florence negeri Italia. Seorang
wanita muda di awal tiga puluhan merawat luka tembak pada kepalanya di sebuah
ICU rumah sakit. Wanita asing berbaju kulit menodongkan senjata pada dokter
lelaki bernama Dr. Marconi di hadapannya. Hanya beberapa saat dokter itu pun
mati di tempat.
Dr. Sienna Brooks
membawa Professor Langdon ke apartemennya untuk menghindar dari upaya
pembunuhan sembari mencari tahu jati dirinya. Akibat tertembak di kepala
mengakibatkan amnesia ringan dan selalu berhalusinansi. Sebuah bisikan
suara wanita kerap di kepalanya, “cari
dan temukan”. Kutipan sebuah ayat alkitab. Setelah menelepon kantor Konsulat
Amerika, Langdon pun kaget kalau kepala administrasi konsulat Amerika
menanyakan lukanya dan kesurupannya. Hanya beberapa menit dua tim bersenjata
mengepung apartment Siena. Kini keduanya
menjadi kejaran agen militer Italia dan kelompok wanita pembunuh Dr. Marconi.
Kembali ke rumah
sakit Langdon menemukan jaketnya dan jam Mickey Mouse-nya. Hal aneh, dia
mendapati pipa kaleng seperti tuba alat bom, sebuah peta puisi dari karya Dante
Alieghieri dan tulisan bordiran di
jaketnya. Sebuah gambar topeng hitam pun ada di penglihatannya. Mempelajari
lebih jauh, simpulan semakin terarah ke sebuah peristiwa mati massal akibat
plague ( bibit penyakit ) di Eropa sehingga disebut topeng hitam kematian.
Sienna dan Langdon pun sangat penasaran akan pengejar mereka.
Keduanya pun mengunjungi
Florence kota kelahiran Dante Alieghieri di mana topeng kematian dipajang. Marta Alvarez,
wanita hamil petugas museum tidak heran bertemu Langdon dan mengatakan tadi
malam Langdon di sana. Langdon pun kaget malam itu dia ada dalam rekaman cctv.
Dia pun semakin heran dan penyerang pun mendapati mereka di Florence dan
membuat direktur museum Ignazio, sahabat Langdon terbunuh. Ignazio Bussini merupakan ahli dalam karya-karya Dante
Aligieri.
Sebuah organisasi
Consortium diketuai dan dimiliki oleh pria tegas dan selalu menjaga komitmen
pada kliennya. Sebutan lelaki itu provost. Tidak banyak bertanya apa bisnis
kliennya namun selalu memuaskan apa kehendak kliennya. Vayentha, gadis gesit
yang sudah berpengalaman dan yang sangat ambisi dalam karirnya dipercaya
provost menangani kasus professor ganteng itu, upaya pengejaran Langdon. Ahli
dalam computer, Knowlton merupakan karyawan provost yang terpercaya dan handal,
lelaki itu juga sudah sepuluh tahun bekerja pada perusahaan professional itu.
Pria itu mendapati pesan kata-kata di sebuah flash disk (tongkat data) yang
mengatakan besok waktunya dunia hancur.
Langdon sangat
terkaget melihat wanita tua berambut silver dan berkalung batu lapis lazuli di
penglihatannya dalam sebuah mobil van pengejaran. Langdon seperti melihat hantu
tapi wanita itu nyata. Dia pun semakin bingung dan semakin menggali siapa para
pengejar. Lewat penjaga museum diapun tahu pemilik topeng kematian yang
dipajang di museum itu adalah Dr. Betrand Zobrist. Seorang dokter ilmuwan
penemu, philantropis, pemilik beberapa paten di masa mudanya, dan perekayasa
genetika. Namun sayang dokter itu diberitakan telah bunuh diri dengan melompat
jembatan seminggu yang lalu. Sienna telah beberapa kali mengikuti seminarnya
dan mempelajari misi dokter yang sangat peduli dengan efek ledakan penduduk
bumi. Bisa dibilang Sienna adalah penggemar berat Dr. Zobrist.
Dr. Elisabeth Sinskey
adalah ketua organisasi kesehatan dunia (WHO) sangat kaget dengan pertemuannya
dengan Dr. Zobrist sebelum kematiannya. Di antara keduanya terjadi perdebatan
masalah ledakan penduduk. Provost sangat heran dengan berita bunuh diri
kliennya Dr. Zobrist dan lelaki bertubuh kecil itu ingin melanjutkan keinginan kliennya. Setelah
mempelajari kembali dokumen Zobrist, provost pun akhirnya memutuskan bekerja
sama dengan WHO. Dia tidak pernah mengetahui bahwa misi dari ilmuwan Zobrist
ingin menyebarkan sebuah plague (bibit penyakit) yang akan mengurangi setengah
penduduk dunia. Baik WHO dengan bantuan agen militer polisi Italia sekarang
menjadi satu tim dan mencari tahu dimana Langdon berada.
Ketua WHO sebenarnya
telah merekrut Langdon untuk memecahkan kode ayat-ayat karya Dante Alighieri,
Divine Comedy, untuk mencari tahu di mana plague pemusnah ciptaan Zobrist
berada.
Dr. Zobrit menggunakan ayat-ayat dari puisi Inferno karya Dante. Gambaran poet Dante akan perjalanan rohaninya sesuai bacaannya di Bible. Manusia akan memasuki tahapan Inferno (neraka), Purgatory (penyucian), dan Paradise (surga).
Dalam kata-kata inskripsi Dr. Zobrist semua menyerap puisi inferno sehingga semakin meyakinkan Robert Langdon ada rencana pemusnahan dari ilmuwan pintar itu. Ketika Dr. Langdon hampir memecahkan inskripsi itu dia pun berhasil ditangkap oleh tim militer bayaran WHO dan Consortium.
Dr. Zobrit menggunakan ayat-ayat dari puisi Inferno karya Dante. Gambaran poet Dante akan perjalanan rohaninya sesuai bacaannya di Bible. Manusia akan memasuki tahapan Inferno (neraka), Purgatory (penyucian), dan Paradise (surga).
Dalam kata-kata inskripsi Dr. Zobrist semua menyerap puisi inferno sehingga semakin meyakinkan Robert Langdon ada rencana pemusnahan dari ilmuwan pintar itu. Ketika Dr. Langdon hampir memecahkan inskripsi itu dia pun berhasil ditangkap oleh tim militer bayaran WHO dan Consortium.
Provost akhirnya
menceritakan bahwa Dr. Ferris tak lain yang menyamar menjadi Dr. Marconi
menjemputnya dari kampus ke Florence namun dia tidak pernah ditembak di kepala
dan dokter tertembak di rumah sakit itu adalah rekayasa. Dia hanya disuntikkan
cairan benzodiazepine, pembuat amnesia sementara waktu bertujuan menghapus
ingatan jangka pendek. Semuanya bagian dari sandiwara yang direncanakan Sienna
Brook dengan pihak provost.
Sebelum meninggal
Zobrist adalah kliennya atas rujukan Sienna dan mereka pun sepakat melanjutkan
rencana ilmuwan Zobrist. Namun provost tidak mengetahui sebegitu kejam misi
ciptaan Zobrist, ilmuwan yang didapati bunuh diri seminggu sebelumnya. Provost
juga bercerita kalau Sienna adalah mantan kekasih Dr. Zobrist yang telah
diabaikan. Professor itu sangat kecewa mendapati kenyataan dia telah
dipermainkan oleh Sienna. Mereka pun membaca sebuah kode dalam pipa tuba dan
provost mengatakan itu adalah kode Sienna.
Pencarian wabah (plague) pun
berakhir di kota Istanbul Turki. Sienna pun ditemukan di sana dan Langdon berhasil
berbicara dengan gadis cantik itu. Gadis botak itu mengakui dan meminta maaf
telah mempermainkan Langdon namun tujuannya adalah menemukan ciptaan plague
(wabah, bibit penyakit) demi menyelamatkan dunia.
Zobrist memang
awalnya ingin menciptkan plague untuk memusnahkan setengah penduduk bumi.
Kegelisahannya akan ledakan laju penduduk dunia yang diprediksi akan
memusnahkan manusia. Kekurangan air bersih, kekeringan, dan kekurangan makanan
karena menurut ahli biologi dan statistik bumi hanya mampu menyangga kehidupan
empat milyar manusia sementara tahun 2050 akan sembilan milyar. Tidak salah
ahli matematika Robert Malthus dengan ilmu deretnya memastikan penduduk akan
berlipat-lipat.
Sienna tumbuh sebagai
gadis tidak seperti umumnya pada usianya, karena sejak dini telah mengetahui
dirinya mengidap kanker. Dia pun bergabung dengan organisasi yang menolong
orang miskin di Manila, Pilipina. Kanker yang diidapnya membuat keputusan membotaki kepalanya dan keseharian
dengan wig blonde. Namun dia di perkosa oleh tiga lelaki di jalanan yang
membuatnya goncang dan trauma.
Gadis prodigy itu
memutuskan untuk kuliah kedokteran di Amerika. Keresahannya melihat penduduk
bumi yang keras diwarnai kemiskinan, pembunuhan, keserakahan, serta ancaman
kepunahan dia sangat sepaham dan tertarik dengan Dr. Zobrist. Namun cara itu
dinilai sadis olehnya dan akhirnya dokter itu menciptakan virus yang membuat
manusia tidak subur sehingga diprediksi sepertiga penduduk bumi tidak subur
demi menekan laju ledakan penduduk.
Wabah Virus itu telah disebarkan
seminggu yang lalu dan sudah terlanjur. Faktanya tidak ada ada plague ciptaan
Zobrist. Gadis kehilangan rambut itu kini menjadi teroris biologi, seorang
buronan. Mengetahui semua pengakuan Sienna, Langdon pun menceritakannya pada
Dr. Sinskey, namun ketua WHO itu sulit memercayai pengakuan Sienna.
Akan tetapi selepas
mempertemukannya dengan Sienna, doktor biologi itu pun memahami posisi Sienna
dan menarik gadis cerdas itu bekerja pada WHO. Selain Sienna adalah dokter yang
berpikiran tegas dan berani tidak seperti kebanyakan karyawan lab WHO yang
berpikiran abu-abu, juga diperkuat pertimbangan agar mengetahui ide dari
mendiang Zobrist.
Provost dan anak
buahnya ditangkap atas suruhan WHO. Sebelum Langdon kembali ke Italia, dia
mengucapkan selamat tinggal secara pribadi kepada gadis itu walau sebenarnya
ada benih ketertarikan di antara keduanya. Dr. Sinskey mengirimkan paket yang
berisikan barang-barang Dr. Langdon termasuk jam tangan Mickey Mouse –
kesayangannya. Professor mengembalikan topeng kematian pada tempatnya namun
sayang dia tidak bertemu dengan Marta, guide
museum itu tengah cuti melahirkan.
*******
8 Mei 2015
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